Memorial to Col Lewis Benedict

 

…of Col. Benedict was a Soldier in the Revolutionary war, though so young that his father at one time urged him to return home. The maternal ancestor of Col. B. was Job Stafford of Berkshire Massachusetts who with his four sons fought under General Stark at the battle of Bennington.

 

            Lewis Benedict S^r, the Father of the Soldier, was an old and honored citizen of Albany who died two years before that his son fell in battle, and while that son was languishing amid the hardships of a rebel prison.

 

            He was a man of Superior and Commanding Character.

 

            “I have known no man”, said one of the Eulogists of the son, more worthy to be held in honored rememberance than Lewis Benedict the Elder. In the grandeur of his person no less than in the Earnestness of his purposes he realized my Conception of the iron willed barons who extorted from the Crown the Great Charter of English Liberty. His very presence gave assurance of the balanced Elements of perfect manhood. The masculine vigor of his understanding, his broad and Enlightened views, his clear perception of the right, his rugged and inflexible sense of justice commended our respect and admiration. Yet this lion-hearted old man, open frank and downright in Speech had a generous warm and loving nature which yielded to friendship and affection with almost womanly gentleness and sensitivity. He was loyal, faithful and true, incapable of falsehood, incapable of fear.” Lewis Benedict J^r the Son of a Sire so worthy and of Susan Stafford his wife was born in Albany Sep 2^d 1817

 

            Prosecuting his preliminary studies in and near his native place, he was in 1834 fitted to enter the Sophomore class of Williams College where he was graduated in 1837. Letters of condolence and eulogy from some of his college classmates speak of him there as a young man of fine natural gifts, a good scholar and quite able, if he had chosen, to lead his class but preferring large courses of English reading, and the athletic sports so appropriate to that age. “I can well imagine him”, says one of these correspondents, a splendid military officer, for he had the necessary requisites both intellectual and physical. It is doing injustice to none of his classmates to say that in mind as well as in body he had no superior among them.”

 

            After graduation he entered the Law office of the late distinguished Counsellor John C. Spencer at Canandagua, and three years later was licensed as attorney at law & soon after admitted as counsellor in the Supreme Court of the State. In 45 he was appointed City Attorney and, when his term expired, reappointed. In ‘47 he was made Judge Advocate General on The Staff of Gov. Young. The year following he was elected Surrogate of the City and County of Albany for a term of four years by a majority far exceeding the party strength & in ’48 was reappointed Judge Advocate General by Gov. Fish.

 

B         For the ten years that followed, from 1850 to 1860 Col. Benedict continued to practice Law in Albany and shared the fortunes of the Old Whig and Republican Party with which he was thoroughly identified.

            For high honors at the Bar he needed more than the stimulus of mere personal ambition. To sow while others were reaping, to toil while others slept, to aspire to the hardy fruits of an intellectual toil activity that knows neither relaxation nor repose was not for his large, generous and social nature.

 

            Independant in circumstances, with the habits, manners and culture of a gentleman, political life attracted him and opened for him a career in which he was peculiarly fitted to shine. Yet so vigorous and well stored was his mind, that he found it easy to discharge with skill and fidelity the duties he owed his clients; while no better proof is needed of his legal attainment and judical ability than the fact that while he was surrogate no decree ever pronounced by him was eve reversed in an Appellate Court. Into the canvass of 1860 he entered with uncommon zeal, not for personal ends but because he considered it a national cricis of supreme magnitude.

 

            He took a leading character in the organization of the order of the “Wide Awakes” and traveled extensively in the state perfecting the organization and doing everything for the success of the Republican Party. He was elected to the assembly by a large majority & was the only union member from the County.—With a penetration superior to most of his party even, he was early convinced that the Slaveholders meant war & he prepared his mind for that issue and all its consequences.

 

            Efforts to conciliate them he regarded as worse than futile. He knew how thoroughly the South had become imbued with Calhounism and how determined they were to force the slavery question as a Sectional issue on the North and instead of deprecating the result or blinking the question he addressed himself to efforts to dissuade any further attempts to pacify by concessions. Writing to a political friend in Washington in December 1860, about the time that South Carolina passed her Ordinance of Secession, he said: “The feeling here is that one concession would but pave the way for another and until, without saving the union, we should demoralize public sentiment.

 

            This was not an intellectual opinion merely with him but in all occasions he spoke and acted on the faith of it. When Rebellion had become systematic and aggressive, his nature was thoroughly aroused and he toiled constantly, using all the means at his command to rouse his fellow citizens to a sense of the importance of making military preparations adequate to the great demands of the cricis. With a sagacity then uncommon in any class of community, he measured the scope of the Rebellion and urged the immediate preparation for a war of great magnitude and length. In April, when the first call was made, he only regretted the meagerness of the number invoked by the Proclamation.

 

“The Government would be justified”, he wrote, “in calling for 300,000, and the men would respond with delight. It is time that we should wip exorcise from our breasts those gentle spirits brotherly love and fraternal regard, and substitute inplacable determination and stern justice in their place. We have been wronged, insulted and betrayed by false bretheren, the flag of our Union betrayed disgraced, and our bretheren slain”.

 

            Governor Morgan responding to the first call by suggesting to the Legislature the necessary action and the result was an Act calling for 30 000 men & appropriating $3 000 000 Dollars for their Equippment. This measure was warmly supported by Col. Benedict, and in its defense he came frequently in collision with the opposition members, who still were clinging to “our misguided bretheren of the South”.

 

            During the debate on the Bill a democratic member interrupted Col. B. thus: “I wish to ask the Gentleman a question. If I imbue my hands in my brothers blood, do I thereby promote the cause of Liberty?” “I will answer that question”, said Col Benedict, “If with traitorous and parricidal hand that brother dares to tear down the flag of our common country I do promote the Cause of Liberty if I take his life”

 

            It was mainly through his exertions that it was made part of the volunteer system of the state that for each regiment to elect its own officers.

 

            This he advocated mainly on account of securing the cooperation of the opposing party who had refused to have any share in the work if all the officers were to be appointed by the Governor.

 

            But the general action & temper of the legislature was far from reaching his standard of patriotism and zeal. Writing from Massachusetts, which state he visited about this time, he says: “If the troops at Washington are beaten the administration had better resign, because you can have a million of men by calling for them. There is power here to crush out treason. Do not attempt to pick it to pieces.”

 

            About this time a suggestion was made to him that he might obtain the Colonelcy of one of the earlier regiments raised but he then and afterwards persistently declined, declaring that his knowledge of the military art was not such as to make to him the proper custodian of the military honor and the lives of a thousand men.

 

            He had been connected with Cavalry arm of the State Militia and preferred now to serve in that branch of the service, but his efforts were damped by the dictum of General Scott, who declared that no such force was needed. How gravely he erred in that opinion subsequent events have abundantly shown.

 

            As the drama deepened, his anxiety to take an active part in the war became more acute. He came to New York and was elected Lieut. Col of the 2^d (?) Zouaves. When the Colonelcy was tendered him he declined it on the before assigned. He writes to his father that his days and nights are now given to the study of tactics and the rules of military organization, saying that “he shall master the business he is about to Engage in.”

 

            Though on the eve of marriage, he postponed all that was personal to himself, and calmly, unostentatiously, announced his purpose and made his arrangements, not for three months or three years even, but for the war.

 

            During the months of July and August he was with his Regiment going to Washington and being there involved in the discussion of two or three much vexed questions as to organization which were finally settled by an order requiring the 2^d Zouaves to report to Gen Sickles of the Excelsior Brigade, and by the Election of Col Brewster to command the Regiment. During the fall this Regiment was assigned to Hooker’s Division and engaged in the construction of forts Stanton, Grible and Caroll commanding the south approaches of Washington. Its name was now changed to the 73^d N. Y. State Vols.

 

            During the winter of ’61-2 he was with his regiment along the Potomac, in Camp and in picket, and no officer could be more indefatigable than he in labors to make his command everything it should be. He was always in camp, looking after the comfort and health of the men drilling when possible, elevating in every way possible the tone & character of his men & fitting them for the arduous service that was so soon to ensue.

 

As spring opened he grew eager for the  fight and his letters home abound in expressions of the utmost confidence in the fighting qualities of his men, in the success of the cause, and in many sanguine expressions hopes as to his surviving the struggle and meeting all the loved ones again.

 

            Early in April the 73^d was, with others, ordered to the Peninsula. For a month it was engaged in picket and outpost duty in the Siege of Yorktown and on the 4^th May was the first to enter the town. Evacuation without a struggle had not been anticipated and he writes to his aged mother as follows: “I am pained to learn that so much apprehension for my safety is mingled with the gratification you feel at my being in a position to do service to my country. I know it is impossible for a mother to forget her son but I would if I could inspire you with the love I feel in devoting my life to the cause of freedom and the union.”

 

            In a few days his anticipations were fully realized. Johnson did not fight at Yorktown but a few miles further up he had erected a line of bastioned forts and rifle pits, defended by a wide abattis near the old town of Williamsburg and here, on the 5^th May 1862 was fought one of the bloodiest engagements of the whole war, and the 2^d Brigade had its full share of the fighting and the losses.

 

            Heinzelman’s Corps was the first in the advance up the river in pursuit of the retreating enemy; and Hooker’s Division being in advance had pushed on all day on the 4^th and in the morning of the 5^th came upon the enemy behind this line of field works. Like a true Soldier as he is, prompt & brave, Hooker at once commenced to fight. It soon became apparent that the enemy would try to turn his left, and the 2^d Brigade was soon brought up from its position in reserve to prevent this. Hooker fought alone all the morning and till 3 4 in the afternoon. Then the gallant Kearny came up and gave his exhausted men some respite and a chance to fill their cartridge boxes which were all Empty and the fight continued till night. Why Hooker was thus allowed to fight his 6000 men against a third of the rebel army and to receive no aid, with Sumner’s Corps 20 000 strong within sound of his guns, and the whole Union force within a four hours march, and why the commander in Chief did not reach the scene of action till nearly sundown are circumstances that have never yet been satisfactorily explained. In the struggle at the left the 73^d was on the extreme left and there was the Lieut Col. urging up his men through the abattis which was here very dense. At length a part of the line gave way. Col Benedict had received a fall a few days weeks before which still made him lame and, at the abattis, finding it impossible to ride, he had dismounted, and was leading his men on foot. Lame as he was, and entangled in the brush, he did not attempt to make his way back, but a few of his men clung to him & they were all taken together. Col Benedict refused to give up his sword, but the rebel officer, admiring his spirit took the wepon from his hand & he consented to his fate. A few days after at Richmond he contrived to send this message to some of the 73^d who were released in parole. “Good bye and good luck to the 73^d Prisoners. It pleases me more to have you free than to be free myself for I know if it had not been for my helplessness you would not have been here. If you see any of our Regiment, remember me to them. Good bye & God bless you!”

 

            Col Benedict’s imprisonment was not as long as a great number of Union Officers Suffered, nor was it attended by such appalling sufferings from starvation and cruelty as characterized the last year of the rebellion.

 

            The South were then confident of success. Davis and his Cabinet and Minster had not then commenced to act upon the fiendish policy of deliberately killing prisoners by the ten thousand by with slow torture.

 

He was confined some time in Libby prison, which was then filthy indeed, but not such a disgusting lazar-house as it afterwards became. He was removed in time to Salsbury in the rolling uplands of North Carolina where the Sanitary Conditions were tolerable and prisoners were allowed to buy food if they were so fortunate as to have money on their persons.

 

            Sometime in August he was exchanged and on his way through Richmond Stopped at the Libby Prison where the wards were crowded and the filth & sickness and low diet were bringing unspeakable suffering.—

Many of the poor fellows were nearly naked, and Col. Benedict gave up to them his overcoat and every article he could spare. In consequence of this, and exposure to cool night air he imbibed the poison of the malaria and when he reached Albany on the 23^d Aug. could not stand without assistance, and was carried as speedily as possible to his home and bed, although his fellow citizens had prepared to welcome his return by a formal reception. His experience on the peninsula and in Southern prisons had only intensified the convictions he felt and so earnestly expressed at the opening of the war. His opinions as to the magnitude and duration of the struggle were only confirmed. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered from camp fever to see his friends and give full utterance to his sentiments he urged Emancipation, and the confiscation of the estates of leading rebels, as two efficient wepons which the North had a right to draw and wield against the insurgent power.

 

            While still confined to his bed Governor Morgan, in the kindest manner, tendered him the Colonelcy of the 162^d N.Y. Vols then being recruited and in order to accept it he resigned his position as Lieut. Col of the 62^d

            Though still weak from fever, he went down to New York early in September and found his presence of the greatest importance to the interests of the regiment. This was the third of those raised under the auspices of the Metropolitan Police. Bounty brokers were plying their notorious unprincipaled arts, aided in some cases by the incompetency and in others by the nefarious connivance of examining surgeons.

 

            To meet all these detestable practices with proper tact and firmness, and to overcome the various hindrances thus occasioned involved an amount of personal attention that would at any time have taxed his energies severely but, in the low health which he brought to duties so exhausting, he narrowly escaped complete prostration. But his physical powers were naturally vigorous and by Oct October he was ready to take his regiment to the front. Their redezvous was Fortress Monroe and the destination was soon known to be the Southwest. This pleased Col Benedict. “I am happy”, he writes from Hampton both for my men and myself that we are going to the South where winter will lock up patriotic effort in ice, nor drown it in mud, but we can strike freely and know that we are striking foes”.

 

            Few public men have at any time expressed them selves more emphatically in favor of the Union, the whole Union and nothing but the Union than did Colonel Benedict in the following letter to his Brother just before going out to Louisiana. “While I believe I am engaged in a sacred war for moral, political and religious rights and am certain it will be prosecuted to the bitter end—to the subjugation of Secession—I will be confident and fearless. But if the time come when compromise is tolerated, expect me home. I will never support a war which is to end in any event except the establishment in its entirety of the authority of the Government. My Life, and that includes all, is at the service of the Government Union, but not one hair of my head will be given voluntarily for any modification of it.”

 

            Embarking at Fortress Monroe on the 3^d Dec with four Companies of the Regiment he had a stormy passage to N Orleans arriving there the 15^th. Reporting to Gen Sherman he was ordered to Camp Parapet just above Carrollton where the other six Companies of his Regiment joined him. Soon after, in January, he was ordered to Donaldsonville as to guard the rear of Weitzels Column which, about that time, commenced operations on the Teche

 

            Remaining here two or three weeks he returned to Camp Parapet, where he for some time acted as Brigadier. His health now requiring a surgical operation of much importance he made a hurried trip to New York and on his return had hardly seen his command when a frightened horse ran over him & injured one of his legs quite seriously. This kept him from the field some time longer. Meantime General Banks had marched rapidly up to Alexandria, and then moving down to Cheyneyville and Simmsport, crossed the Achafayla and marched down the west bank of the Mississippi to Morganza, which is opposite Bayou Sara and 10 ten miles above Port Hudson. Crossing here, he speedily invested that place.

Col Benedict had joined his command early in May and on the 23^d was detached with the 110^th N. Y. two Companies of Cavalry and a Section of the 6^th Mass Cav Artillery to hold Fausse Point or Hermitage, a little hamlet on the west bank, of great importance in case of any relief being attempted for the now doomed garrison at Port Hudson. In this situation Col Benedict displayed activity and judgment, keeping his Cavalry constantly on the alert, and capturing a part of the enemys signal Corps. His camp was within range reach of the enemy’s long range guns and he we was several times shelled but without serious effects.

 

Remaining here a little more less than three weeks he was ordered to turn over this temporary command to Col Sage and come over to Port Hudson. Arriving on the 13^th June he was put in command of the 175^th N. Y. the 28^th Maine and 48^th Mass, which together with the 162^d N.Y. his old Regiment now commanded by Lt. Col Blanchard Composed the 2^d Brigade, 2^d Division under Maj Gen Dwight.

 

            At twelve that night, orders came for an attack at day break by the entire line of investment. At one oclock Col Benedict moved his command still far further to the left so as to be opposite the lower or southern sally port of the garrison. A desertedr had described the intrenchments on that side as less formidable and that there was a straight and plain road to the sally port. But no reliable p information was in possession of General Dwight as to the topography.

 

            Port Hudson is situated on a plain or table land that extends generally unbroken to the bluffs where there is a rapid plunge of about two hundred perpendicular feet to the waters of the Mississippi River. But on the south side of town there are several narrow gorges, or deep cuts in the surface of the plain, extending from the river several hundred yards in an easterly direction, and one in particular, a short distance south of the lower or southern line of rebel earthworks. General Dwight seems to have known nothing of this and it was a matter of extreme difficulty to obtain any reliable knowledge of the surface of the country within range of the enemys guns.

 

At early dawn the 1^st Brigade commanded by Col Clarke of Michigan moved up to the attack but was in a few moments thrown into confusion by the withering and deadly fire from the enemy’s works.

 

            Col Benedict was now ordered to advance his brigade in column of companies. Moving up in this order he soon debouched from the woods and began to cross the open field that streached for a half mile northward to the enemys line. Here he was met by the same terrific fire that a short time before had thrown Clark into confusion. But he presses on in good order till when half way up the column comes under a cross fire from another part of the hostile line. The fire was now almost insupportable, but he urges the column forward w to within a hundred yards of the deadly line which he was to carry. Here he found himself on the brink of a deep chasm which had been rendered wholly impassable by an A abattis; for these ravines abound in a luxuriant growth of beech, magnolia and thorny vines. The small arms of the enemy could now tell upon the column. What could be done. To retreat was to expose his men to the deadly fire while crossing the open field; to advance was wholly impracticable. It only remained to march by the right flank in the face of a deadly fire an operation always hazardous to the last degree whether executed by a regiment or an army.—

 

For himself he had no thought. He ordered his men to seek cover. Fortunately there was a slight swell of ground between them and the ravine so that by lying on their faces the balls would fly over them. The whole brigade prostrated themselves while he their commander, his tall figure more conspicuous than ever in full uniform, coolly walked up to the brink of the ravine and took a calm survey of the ground. Orderly or staff he had none, and receiving no orders, he quietly walked back to Gen. Dwights quarters and reported the situation in person. Gen D. advised him to let his men remain as they were till dark when they could be quietly withdrawn. Accordingly he went back to where his men were now suffering under the scortching sun of a midsummers day in Louisiana and shared their trials till nightfall when he took them back to camp.

 

            It was a terrible day. The men were exhausted by watching and excitement and many of them agonized with wounds and all tortured with thirst. Yet the raising of a single head would have drawn upon them the vollies of the sharpshooters who were crowded behind the enemy’s works within easy gunshot range.

 

            Col Bryan of the 175^th N. Y. was killed as was also Major James H Bogart of the 162^d. Out of the 173 of that regiment who marched up in that assault over fifty or nearly thirty per cent were killed or wounded.

 

            The coolness and address displayed on this occasion by Col Benedict excited much admiration.

 

            An officer writing to a friend and describing the advance & the conduct of Col B. says: “When about three hundred yards from the works, I was struck. The pain was so intense I could not go on but turned to my 2^d Lieut as he came up to me and said, “Never mind me Jack, for God’s sake jump to the Colors.” I don’t recollect anything more till I heard Col Benedict shout ‘Up men and forward. I looked and saw the rear regiments lying flat to escape the fire and Col Benedict standing there, the shot striking all about him and he never flinching. It was grand to see him. I wish I was of iron nerve as he is.”

 

            Another officer says of him: “I saw Col Benedict standing just in front of me when I was wounded on the edge of the ravine, looking intently at the rebel works while bullets and shells were flying about very thick. He then walked to the rear as composedly as if he were out for a stroll.

 

            The next day in General Orders Gen. Banks called for a Battallion of stormers 1000 in number to be commanded by two officers who were promised promotion and to the men were promised medals and a special mention in General orders. Col Benedict was one of the volunteers and would have lead the 2^d Section while Col Birge of Massachusetts was to lead the first

 

But the prospective surrender of Vicksburg was so near and the capitulation of the garrison at Port Hudson was so sure a signal to that event that no more assaults were made

 

            For a few days Col Benedict was in command at Springfield Landing a few miles below Port Hudson and there threw up a field work to protect the place.

 

            After the fall of Vicksburg & Port Hudson Gen Banks & army returned to Baton Rouge & New Orleans where he reorganized his army. The 162^d N. Y. 110^th N.Y. 165^th N. Y. and 14^th Maine constituted the 1^st Brigade 3^d Division, 19^th Army Corps and Col Benedict assigned to its permanent command.

 

            During the fall Col Benedict with his Brigade took part in several unimportant movements in western Louisiana always acquitting himself well & acting with discretion as well as courage.—

Early in January 1864 at Franklin was organized that ill-starred and ill-managed enterprise known as the Red River Expedition. In it Col Benedict was assigned to the command of the 3^d Brigade, 1^st Division, 19^th Army Corps. General Franklin commanded the Corps; General Emory the Division. It is not proposed here to speak of the general numerous errors of that campaign or to explain all the causes of its failure.—It may be said in general that in following a retreating but not vanquished enemy into the heart of an country unknown country to the invading force but with which that enemy was thoroughly familiar, the greatest caution and obedience to all well settled military rules was but the dictate of common prudence. The great prime error of General Banks was in underestimating the force and spirit of the enemy and assigning fear as his motive when in fact he was acting with sound strategy. The country above Alexandria above on the south side of Red River may be described as a narrow but very fertile river bottom, flanked on the southwest by a rolling and broken region covered with pine forests. Banks very naturally and very properly followed up the river bank his transports keeping along up the stream on his right flank. His grand error was strictly a military error. He fought a concentrated enemy with his own force hopelessly seperated. He fought detachments and at no time during those disastrous days of the 8^th 9^th and 10^th April had all his resources in hand. When the enemy assailed him, the infantry of Banks army was in three detachments, one near the scene of action, the other two nine and twenty four miles from it, in exactly the proper position to be beaten in detail and that was precisely what occurred

 

            The advance detachment and infantry cavalry was thrown back routed on the second, and this after an ineffectual attempt to make a successful resistance was ordered back on the rear detachment. But by this time the trains and a greater part of the artillery were in the enemys hands and after the force was concentrated the means for prosecuting the enterprize were gone, and the expedition became a total failure. The movement commenced on the 15^th April March 1864. No serious resistance was made threatened till about the 6^th of april when the enemy was found to be in force at Pleasant Hill and beyond manifesting a disposition to dispute the advance. Gen. Lee with the cavalry division lead & was followed by two divisions of the 13^th Corps, the 1^st Division 19^th Corps and a Brigade of colored troops under command of Col Dickey.

 

            On the 7^th there was severe skirmishing. On the 8^th the enemy was in line and in force and there was skirmishing all the morning between the cavalry, one Brigade of the 13^th Corps and the enemy. At noon another Brigade of the 13^th Corps arrived and was placed in position. At half past four the enemy made a resolute and general attack massing on the federal right flank. Both flanks were soon broken and the Union line reformed at some distance in the f rear of the first position. By this time Cameron with the 3^d Division of the 13^th Corps had come up. But the Federal line was again broken and all efforts to rally and reform the troops were unsuccessful, and the retreat was rapidly becoming a rout. Word was sent to Gen Emory commanding 1^st Division 19^th Corps to advance and select a position where he could check the advance of the enemy and support the troops in retreat. He was then 7 miles to the rear of the first battle ground. Advancing at double quick, by 6 oclock Gen Emory came to the immediate rear of the scene of the disaster and took his position at Pleasant Grove He had three brigades commanded by Dwight, M^cMillan and Benedict & M^cMillan respectively. Dwight was ordered to form in line of battle across the road on which the enemy was moving; Benedict on his left, and M^cMillan as reserve. Hardly was the disposition made when the enemy was at hand and made a vigorous attack. The most serious pressure was first made on Gen Dwight and M^cMillan was ordered up to relieve. But in a short time a fierce attack was made on the left and the enemy seemed determined to break in or turn Benedict’s Brigade. The action lasted from a little after six till it was quite dark. “Nothing”, says Gen. Banks in his report, “could surpass in impetuosity the assault of the enemy but the inflexible steadines and valor of our troops. The First Division of the 19^th Corps by its great bravery in this action saved the army and navy. But for this successful resistance at Pleasant Grove the attack made with increased force on the following day at Pleasant Hill could not have been withstood. We occupied the Battle ground at night”

 

            But it was only for a short time that Banks remained at Pleasant Grove. It was quite certain that the enemy would renew the fight, and quite uncertain whether Gen Smith and the colored troops would be up in time to take part in the contest. Therefore as soon as the men had rested a little and buried some of the dead the retreat was continued 15 miles lower down the river to Pleasant Hill where was fought the battle of the 9^th April in which Col Benedict fell

 

            General Emory was here placed in front with Dwight, 1^st Brigade on the right, M^cMillan 2^d Brigade in the centre and Benedict, 3^d Brigade on the left. Smiths force was kept mainly as reserve. Skirmishing commenced at 3 oclock and the main attack about 5. The advance of the enemy was impetuous and resolute. In fact it was a fierce onset accompanied with savage yells. After a resolute but not prolonged resistance General Emory’s line fell back to the reserves, the enemy pressing forward, when it rallied, was joined by the reserves, and fell upon the enemy who, after a few moments of very sharp fighting, recoiled and abandoned the field. The pursuit was continued till nightfall.

 

            At The the supreme and culminating moment of this action, when the the three brigades of General Emory had having temporarily fallen back and were now advancing on the flushed and confident enemy, backed by the whole reserve, in the wavering and decisive cricis, when the issue hung and the scale of victory was paused poised, this was the time and place where our hero gave up his life for his country. The theatre of the action was a large open field, formerly cultivated in cotton, having a ditch along the middle, and this ditch fringed with wild coffee weed and wild red s roses. From the ditch the ground ascends each way very gently. The elevation or ridge on the south where the Union force was drawn up is called Pleasant Hill

 

            From a corresponding ridge on the other side of the field The enemy made their attack. When marching up a few two days before this topography had arrested Col Benedict’s attention and he had said with some vehemence that here would take place the decisive conflict.

 

            The precise circumstances of his death and the exact spot where he fell have not been determined.

 

            Captain Samuel Cowdrey of Col Benedicts Regiment says, referring to that period of the fight when the Brigade had fallen back from the first assault and was rallying to the final and successful charge, “at this time I did not see the Colonel, but from every account he was then killed, at the head of his Brigade endeavoring to rally the men. The At the moment of his fall I did not see him, but a few moments after, alone, with an orderly, his head resting against a stump and the Brigade flag a few feet from him. In vain I tried to arounse him. He was gone. He was killed instantaneously.”

 

            In point of fact, as his mangled body showed, he had received five balls, one through each arm, one through the right leg above the knee, one in the left foot, and one through the head. The probabilities are that the four wounds in the extremities had bled so freely as to induce faintness, when he dismounted and leaned against the stump, where the fifth bullet pierced his head. Capt Cowdry aided by one of his men carried the body to a temporary hospital in the rear and Lieut John H. Van Wyck, on Col Benedict’s staff, obtained an order for transportation from Gen. Cameron and was detailed to delivered the corpse of the dead patriot and soldier to his family in Albany, which duty he discharged with equal fidelity and tenderness. On Saturday the 30^th April a committee of the Common Council of Albany met his remains in New York, and on Saturday at evening his manly but now motionless form was conveyed to his desolated home; and the aged and now widowed mother received her noble son, honored by all that makes a worthy life, and now lifted by a heroic death to perpetual renown.—

 

Two days later his native city, sad at his loss yet proud that they had given of their noblest to a holy cause, followed him in the full pomp of funereal honor to his tomb. There were civil honors paid the dead and military honors. There was the eloquence of Sacred Eulogy, and touching proofs of private sorrow as he was laid to rest within the shadow of his fathers monument, and with him was buried around his mangled form was wrapped his soldier’s cloak, soiled with the dust of battle, pierced with bullet holes and stiffened by his life blood.—

With a slight modification of the words we may apply to him the gratulation bestowed by the roman Historian on his distinguished father-in-law. “Though he was snatched away in the vigor of life yet if we consider the space his memory fills in the eyes of his fellow citizens he may be said to have died full of years. Possessing all the best enjoyments that spring from Virtue. What further advantage could he win from fortune. Immoderate riches he never desired content with an honorable independance.

 

            True it is that to have reached the present auspicious aera, to have seen the Union reestablished over all the Land and the grand source of our sectional madness forever quenched. This would have been for him a crowning consummation”

SOURCES